Any FAA 107 Drone Pilots in Here?

[kthomas]

So, I recently took and passed the FAA Part 107 test to become a qualified drone pilot.

I've been doing a lot of my own research lately and the opportunities with drones (and will continue to do so), but curious here how many are commercial drone pilots, what you do and what equipment you use.

Feel free to respond here or reach out privately.

Work: Are you freelance or work for an organization?
Industries: What industries do you find yourself doing work for? Construction? Architecture? Surveying? Emergency Response? Agriculture? Energy? Etc.
Drones & Equipment: What drones do you find yourself using? What kind of payload equipment?
Software: What software are you using that you find really helpful for your work? What software should one avoid?
Advice: What advice would you give to someone getting into this realm of work? What do you wish you knew when you were getting started?

I have a past career as an engineer in Oil & gas, and I'm a year out from completing my Master's of Landscape Architecture. I've recently really become intrigued with drones, and worked a deal out with my university for them to pay for my FAA Part 107 in order to use a drone for the research I'm currently conducting. Now that I have my license, I'm really curious about the commercial opportunities that are available in this industry. With my background in engineering and architecture, I feel like I'm fairly qualified to use this technology amongst different industries.

Curious to hear your experiences with this field. Seems to be a very diverse field with lots of opportunities that's probably only going to grow. Would love to hear from those that have made a living out of this type of work.

 

[eflyguy]

Suggest you sign up to RCGroups.com and spend some time in their UAV forum section. Their may be other/better places but that's what I know.

 

[jetech]

I have only done limited work for a realtor and video work for my son-in-law's hunting show. I have done some free work shooting property just for the experience. For editing, I use GIMP for image editing and DaVinci Resolve 17 for video, both are the free version. You can find some good info on https://commercialdronepilots.com/
For software, take a look at
https://www.gimp.org/
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/7205-davinci-resolve.html
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/training
http://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Main_Page
RAW vs JPEG

 

[jetech]

Start talking to people and get the word out that you are looking for drone work.

 

[Basher]

You mean drone *operator.*

Sorry, one of us pilots was bound to say it sooner or later!

On a serious note, I’ll second the RCGroups.com suggestion. RCUniverse may also be worth checking, but I haven’t been active in the hobby for several years so I’m not sure if that site’s still up.